Proposal Development Specialist

The Building People Career Center; Leesburg (VA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

The Building People, LLC is seeking a Director of Proposals to build and lead a centralized proposal shop that supports expanding federal work, including DoD, GSA, and Civilian agencies. This hands-on role will drive strategy, processes, and content development to ensure compliant, high-quality submissions.

You will collaborate with capture, BD, and executives to define pursuit strategies, win themes, and a scalable proposal infrastructure, while integrating AI-driven tools and knowledge

Qualifications

• Experience building a proposal shop from the ground up.
• Experience leading cradle-to-grave proposals in federal contracting (DoD, GSA, Civilian).
• Ability to establish standards, templates, SOPs, and metrics.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead centralized proposal operations to support growth.
• Develop proposal management frameworks, tools, templates, SOPs, and metrics.
• Establish quality standards, style guides, and compliance reviews.

Skills

Proposal management

Strategic leadership

Team leadership

Content management

Tools

Shipley or equivalent

AI tools

Job description

The Building People, LLC, has an opening for aDirector of Proposalsto lead and grow our proposal operations in support of our expanding federal portfolio. This is an opportunity for a proactive, hands-on leader to build and shape a proposal function from the ground up, developing the processes, tools, and team necessary to drive consistent, high-quality, and compliant submissions. The Director will work closely with capture, business development, and executive leadership to guide strategic pursuits and help position The Building People for continued growth and success in the government contracting space.

The ideal candidate has hands-on experience building a proposal shop from the ground up, developing scalable proposal infrastructure, and leading complex, multi-volume proposals in the federal government contracting space (DoD, GSA, and Civilian agencies).

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Proposal Infrastructure

• Build and lead The Building People’s centralized proposal operations function (“proposal shop”) to support corporate growth goals.

• Develop and implement proposal management frameworks, tools, templates, SOPs, and metrics aligned with best practices (Shipley or equivalent).

• Establish proposal quality standards, style guides, and compliance review processes to ensure consistency and excellence across submissions.

• Partner with Capture, Business Development, and Executive Leadership to develop pursuit strategies, win themes, and proposal pipelines.

• Drive integration of AI-driven tools, content management systems, and automation to increase proposal efficiency and knowledge reuse.

Proposal Management & Development

• Lead cradle-to-grave proposal activities for high-value and strategic pursuits (typicallyRevenueM+).

• Manage proposal schedules, compliance matrices, storyboards, color team reviews, and production processes.

• Provide hands-on proposal writing and editing for key or high-visibility sections as needed.

• Coordinate cross-functional contributors to deliver compliant, compelling, and customer-focused proposals.

Team Building & Leadership

• Train and mentor proposal staff to build a scalable, high-performing proposal organization.

• Develop career pathways and professional development plans for team members (including APMP certifications).

• Foster a collaborative and deadline-driven culture that balances creativity, compliance, and efficiency.

• Provide executive-level visibility into proposal operations through metrics, dashboards, and pipeline reporting.

Continuous Improvement & Innovation

• Leverage data analytics to identify proposal trends, lessons learned, and process improvement opportunities.

• Establish knowledge management and content libraries for resumes, past performance, and boilerplate materials.

• Continuously refine proposal operations through post-mortems, win/loss analysis, and capture feedback.

• Stay current with emerging technologies, AI applications, and federal acquisition trends.